A 21-year-old third year Zambian university student studying in Izmir, Turkey has been chosen to participate as a fully-funded delegate after a competitive selection process to represent the country at the Global Peace Summit 2020.
Namwiinga Malambo said that the Global Peace Summit is an opportunity and a step in the right direction, considering that she will be representing the Zambia at the summit.
Namwiinga says that as a girl from a very small part of Zambia, this occasion will help her raise her voice and share her ideas on issues that are currently affecting the world today with other young people and world leaders.
She said it means a lot to her that out of the thousands of applications that they take every year, hers was not only selected but also accepted as a fully funded delegate based on a meritorious and competitive selection process.
She explained that it was through a friend of hers who blogs about the environment and has interest in conferences around the world that she received a link to apply.
Namwiinga said that as a young girl she had always been interested in conferences such as this and always attended conferences hosted by different organizations such as UNICEF, YWCA, Children’s Radio Foundation and also Unite for Climate Change Zambia.
She is currently studying to get her degree in International Relations in Turkey adding that she feels proud everyday living in a foreign land and having to carry the Zambian identity in everything she does.
“I feel like every day that I live in Turkey I am representing not only myself and my family but also my country. Every day I present in my class, attend lectures, write exams, interact with people from different countries and cultural backgrounds, I don’t only stand there as Namwiinga Malambo, I stand there as Namwiinga Malambo from Zambia! it is part of my identity and I am more than glad to wave my flag whenever I get the chance to,” Namwiinga exclaimed.
Namwiinga said that her participation in this conference means that Zambia will get representation, from individuals from 100 plus countries that applied and from the ones that were selected and she considers it an honor to not just be selected as a participant but also offered a place as a fully funded delegate.
“This is a big deal to me and should be a big deal to the country as a whole, it shows what we can achieve, if one of us is in attendance it means all of us are in attendance. It can be an example to the young brilliant Zambian minds that a lot can happen when we work hard and put our minds to it,” she said.
She stated that Zambians need to realize that they too can sit with world leaders and one day lead, it shows that Zambians can speak and the echoes of their voices don’t just sit within the walls of the country but they travel far and wide and when they speak, they will be heard by the world at large.
The Global Peace Summit 2020 is a summit that provides opportunity to extraordinary young, competent and enthusiastic peacebuilders from 100 plus countries to develop their ideas and road maps to achieve sustainable development goals and advocate peace in their communities.
The summit aims to provide a platform for young leaders to form partnerships, bring solutions, and theory on ways to reshape how the world is responding to the 2030 UN sustainable Development Goals amid COVID-19.
The summit will be held on October 15th to October 18th, 2020, in Istanbul, Turkey under the theme: Reshaping Youth Response to UN SDGs.